Netanyahu, Obama to meet in Washington on Sept 30: officials

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet US President Barack Obama in Washington on Sept. 30, an Israeli official said on Tuesday, for talks expected to focus on Iran's nuclear programme.

Netanyahu, confirming he would see Obama but giving no exact date, said the talks would take place before he attended the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York.

"I intend to focus on the question of stopping Iran's nuclear programme - an actual halt to the nuclear programme. And until this is achieved, the pressure on Iran should be intensified and not eased," Netanyahu told his cabinet.

Western powers suspect Iran of harbouring ambitions to build an atomic bomb, but Iran says its nuclear programme is intended purely for peaceful purposes.

Israel is also in the midst of US-sponsored peace talks with the Palestinians that the Obama administration hopes will yield an accord within months. Both countries are concerned by fighting in Syria, on Israel's borders, and the use of chemical weapons there.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Netanyahu and Obama would meet on Sept 30 in Washington and that the prime minister would probably address the UN assembly the next day.